Savings bank



Patented June 14, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Frederick L.Stephens, St. Louis,-Mo.

Refiled for abandoned application Serial No.

109,910, November 9, 1936.

This application August 23, 1937,. Serial No. 160,413

2 Claims.

This invention relates generally to banks and more specifically to smallsavings banks of the type adapted particularly for the reception ofcoins, the predominant object of the invention being toprovide a bank ofthis type which is so constructed. and arranged that in addition toacting as a savings bank it serves also as a puzzle as to how coins areintroduced into the body portion of the bank and how coins may bewithdrawn from the body portion of the bank.

Briefly stated the improved bank comprises a body portion in the form ofa housing in the upper portion of which a slidably supported drawer isarranged. This drawer is provided with a coin opening which receivescoins when the drawer is drawn outwardly, and when the drawer is movedinwardly to its closed position the coins in the coin-opening thereofdisappear from the drawer in a manner which is rather mysterious to aperson who is not familiar with the operation of the bank. Anotherfeature of the invention is the mystery connected with the manner ofremoving coins from the bank. Coins may be removed from the bank only byfirst completely removing the drawer from the drawer opening and thendischarging the coins from the housing of the bank through the draweropening; The invention includes means which normally prevents completewithdrawal of the drawer from the drawer opening of the bank housing andthe task of determining how the drawer may be removed attaches a puzzlefeature to the bank whichmakes its use more enjoyable.

Fig. 1 is a vertical section of the improved bank.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary section of the upper portion of the bank withthe drawer thereof drawn outwardly.

Fig. 3 is a section on line 33 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary plan view on a slightly reduced scale of thestructure illustrated in Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 illustrates a modified form of the invention.

In the drawing, wherein are shown for the purpose of illustration,merely, two embodiments of the invention, one designates in Figs. 1 to4, inclusive, the body portion of the improved bank. The body portion Icomprises a hollow structure formed by front, back, side, top and bottomwall portions rigidly secured together to provide an enclosed housing.In the front wall of the body portion l a drawer opening 2 is providedthrough which a drawer 3 is adapted to slide, the opposed side walls ofthe body portion I having secured thereto drawer-supporting elements 4which extend from front to back of said side walls and support thedrawer 3 for sliding movement. Secured to the front wall of the bodyportion l is an element 5 which extends transversely of said front wallfrom the forward portion of one of the drawer-supporting elements 4 tothe forward portion of the other drawer-supporting element 4. It isimportant to note that the drawer opening 2 provides the only means ofaccess to the interior of'the body portion I, said body portionotherwise being completely enclosed by rigidly positioned and nonremovalwall portions.

The drawer 3 includes a block of wood or other suitable material 6 inwhich is formed a circular coin opening 1, this coin opening beingextended entirely through the block of material 6 from top to bottomthereof as shown to the best advantage in Figs. 1 and 2. By referring toFigs. 1, 2 and 3 it will be noted that a depression 8 is formed in theblock of material 6 of the drawer at the bottomface thereof. Thisdepression extends from the front end of the block of material to therear end thereof and said depression is of less width than the block ofmaterial as shown in Fig. 3. Disposed in the depression 8 is a hingedlysupported flap 9 which provides a bottom for and closes the lower end ofthe coin opening I, said flap, as shown in Fig. 3 being slightly widerthan the diameter of the coin opening. The flap 9 is hingedly secured tothe block of material 3 by a strip of fabric ill, or other suitablematerial, which is secured by suitable adhesive material to the top faceof said flap. The forward portion of the strip of fabric I0 is securedby adhesive material to the lower face of the forward portion of theblock of material 3 and this forward portion of the strip of fabric II!is interposed be tween the lower face of said block of material and anelement which is likewise secured in place by adhesive material. Asshown in Figs. 1 and 2 the forward end face of the flap 9 is inclined soas to permit the flap to move in a hinged manner, the hinge point beingat the rear end of the element II.

Adjacent to the rear end of the block of material'6 of the drawer 3 anopening 12 is formed in said block of material, this opening being openat the top face of said block of material and extending partiallythrough the block of material toward the lower face thereof. Also formedin the portion of the block of material 6 located beneath the opening I2is a second opening 13 of reduced diameter which communicates at itsupper end with the larger opening I2 and is open at the lower face ofthe block of material.

provided with a head portion l5 at its upper end, said head portionresting on the lower face of the opening I2 and thereby supporting thestop pin in the opening I3 so that its lower portion extends downwardlybeyond the lower face of the drawer 3.

In order to prevent the stop pin I4 from being unintentionally displacedfrom the opening I3 a pin 6 is provided which is supported in alinedopenings I! and I8 formed in the block of material 6 at opposite sidesof the opening I2 thereof. The pin I6, which is provided with a headpor-. tion I9 at its rear end, extends transversely through the openingI2 as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 and the forward portion of said pin isdisposed only in the rear portion of the opening I8. The forward portionof the opening I8 receives a plug of wood 2|] or other suitable materialwhich closes said opening and prevents convenient access to the forwardend of the pin I6. Secured to the inner face of the rear wall of thebody portion I is a buffer element 2| into which the headed end of thepin I6 is moved when the drawer 3 is moved inwardly into said bodyportion to its closed position.

The forward end of the drawer 3 is provided with a facing element 22which is suitably secured in place, and also the drawer is provided witha knob 23 which serves to facilitate movement of the drawer into and outof the body portion I.

In the use of the improved bank disclosed herein, the drawer 3 is drawnoutwardly to the position in which it is shown in Fig. 2 when it isdesired to introduce a coin into the bank. Such outward movement of thedrawer causes the flap 9 to move outwardly in contact with the element 5whereby said flap is moved upwardly to the position in which it is shownin Fig. 2 where said flap serves as a bottom wall for the coin opening Iin the drawer. It is to be noted that the fiap 9 is maintained in itsupward position when the drawer is in its outwardly extended position bythe top face of the element 5 and by the face of the front wall of thebody portion I which is located at the bottom of the drawer opening 2.It is also to be noted that when the drawer has been fully drawnoutwardly to its open position the stop pin I4 contacts with the element5 to prevent said drawer from being entirely withdrawn from the bodyportion I.

With the drawer 3 in the outwardly extended position as shown in Fig. 2,the coin to be depos-v ited in the bank is placed in the coin openingwhere it rests on the flap 9. The drawer is then moved inwardly and asthe flap moves inwardly of the element 5 which supports said flap in ahorizontal position when the drawer is extended outwardly, the rearportion of the flap moves downwardly until it finally reaches theposition in which it is shown in Fig. 1. Such downward movement of theflap causes the coin to drop into the interior of the body portion I ofthe bank.

It is pointed out that the manner in which the coins find their way fromthe coin opening of the drawer into the body portion I of the bankconstitutes a mystery which makes the use of the bank more enjoyable asthe movement of the flap takes place entirely within the body portion ofthe bank where it cannot be seen. All that the uninformed user of thebank knows is that he placed a coin in the drawer which apparently has asolid bottom and that when he has The opening I3 receives a stop pin I 4which is moved the drawer inwardly and has again drawn the draweroutwardly to. its open position the coin has disappeared.

Another mystery in connection with the use of the bank has to do withthe manner in which coins may be removed from the interior of the bodyportion of the bank. The body portion of the bank is made up of solid,rigidly positioned, and nonremovable walls and therefore the only mannerin which coins may be removed from the bank is through the draweropening 2. However, the drawer is disposed in the drawer opening and thestop pin I4 normally prevents removal of the drawer from the draweropening. The solution of this mystery is that the pin I6 must be movedrearwardly so that it no longer bridges the opening I2. On suchdisplacement of the pin I6 from the opening I2 the bank may be turnedupside down so as to cause the stop pin I4 to move into the opening I2.This brings the stop pin to a position where it will clear the element 5and permit the drawer to be withdrawn from the drawer opening.

When it is desired to displace the pin I6 from the position where itbridges the opening I2 so as to permit movement of the stop pin I4 to aposition where it will not interfere with withdrawal of the drawer fromthe drawer opening, a short wire-like tool of proper diameter (notshown) is pushed against the forward end of the plug 20. This forces theplug 20 and the pin I6 rearwardly, the drawer at this-time being in itsforwardly extended position as shown in Fig. 2. Such rearward movementof the plug 20 and the pin I6 will cause the plug to drop in the openingI2 and the pin to be entirely removed rearwardly from the opening I2.The bank may then be turned upside down so that the stop pin may moveinto the opening I2 and thereby permit withdrawal of the drawer from thedrawer opening as described above.

vWhen it is desired to replace the drawer in the drawer opening aftercoins have been withdrawn from the bank, the bank is arranged upright inits normal position and. the pin I6 is arranged so that its forwardportion is disposed in the opening I! and its rear portion extendsrearwardly beyond the rear end of the drawer. The stop pin I4 and theflap 9 are then held in their upward positions by fingers of the personreplacing the drawer so that the drawer may be passed into the draweropening without interference from these parts. When the stop pin and therear end portion of the flap are located within the drawer opening thedrawer is moved inwardly until the rear headed end of the pin I6contacts with the buffer 2| and continued rearward movement of thedrawer will force the pin forwardly through the opening I2 and into therear portion of the opening I8 as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. A new plug 20is then arranged in the forward portion of the'opening I8 to concealsaid opening and the bank is again ready for use. It is important thatthe outer end of the plug 20 appear as much like the surface of the wallof the coin opening I as possible so that the presence of this plug maynot be detected by a person who is not familiar with the construction ofthe bank. However a person familiar with the operation of the bank wouldknow the location of the plug and therefore would have no trouble inapplying the tool thereto for the purpose of displacing the plug and thepin I6 as heretofore described.

The form of the invention shown in Fig. 5 is the same as that shown inthe other views with the exception that the opening l8 does not extendforwardly to the face of the coin opening 1', and this form of theinvention does not include a plug such as the plug 26. In the use ofthis form of the invention an authorized person, for instance, a tellerin a bank which issues the improved savings banks disclosed herein,would be provided with a small drill similar to a dentist's drill. Whenthis person desired to remove coins from the savings bank he would drilla small hole through from the face of the wall of the coin opening whichwould be an alined forward con tinuation of the opening l8 whereupon hewould displace the pin Iii from the opening l2 as already explainedthereby permitting displacement of the stop pin and removal of thedrawer.

The present application is a substitution for abandoned applicationSerial No. 109,910, filed in my name on November 9, 1936.

I claim:

1. A savings bank comprising a housing providing a receptacle for coins,a drawer arranged for sliding movement in said housing, said drawerhaving a coin opening formed therein for the reception of coins, andmeans associated with said drawer for preventing complete with drawal ofthe drawer from the housing, said means including a displaceable stoppin supported in a vertically disposed opening formed in said drawer andadapted to engage a portion of the housing for preventing completewithdrawal of the drawer from the housing, and a displaceable pinextended transversely of said opening for preventing displacement ofsaid step pin, said displaceable pin being so located and positioned atsuch distance from an end of said stop pin when the stop pin is in itsnormal position that on movement of said stop pin longitudinally of theopening in which it is located to a predetermined extent said end ofsaid stop pin will contact with said displaceable pin so as to stop themovement of the stop pin before it has been entirely displaced from itsopening.

2. A savings bank comprising a housing providing a receptacle for coins,a drawer arranged for sliding movement in said housing, said drawerhaving a coin opening formed therein for the reception of coins, andmeans associated with said drawer for preventing complete withdrawal ofthe drawer from the housing, said means including a displaceable stoppin supported in a vertically disposed opening formed in said drawer andadapted to engage a portion of the housing for preventing completewithdrawal of the drawer from the housing, and a displaceable pinsupported in alined openings at opposite sides of said opening andextended transversely of said opening for preventing displacement ofsaid stop pin, said displaceable pin being so located and positioned-atsuch distance from an end of said stop pin when the stop pin is in itsnormal position that on movement of said stop pin longitudinally of theopening in which it is located to a predetermined extent said end ofsaid stop pin Will contact with said displaceable pin so as to stop themovement of the stop pin before it has been entirely displaced from itsopening, and means for concealing the location of said displaceable pin.

FREDERICK L. STEPHENS.

